A conversation with Beth Heller Gelles and Dr. Denise Pope: Keeping perspective, lowering the pressure and protecting the parent–teen relationship

Who should attend?

This event is geared toward parents of high school students. Teens are welcome to attend with a parent, but the conversation is designed primarily for adults navigating the college admissions process.

ABOUT THE EVENT

College admissions have become overwhelming and emotionally exhausting for families. Parents feel anxious, students feel pressured and everyone is swimming in mixed messages. This conversation is designed to bring perspective and reassurance to a process that has grown increasingly stressful.

Drawing from fourteen years of working with families, Beth Heller Gelles shares real stories from the front lines of college admissions and insights from her forthcoming book, Crazy for College: The Stories, The Secrets & The Shot of Sanity You Need to Make It Through Admissions. Her focus is not on "getting in," but on helping parents lower the temperature, make thoughtful choices and keep relationships intact along the way.

Joining Beth is Dr. Denise Pope, senior lecturer at Stanford Graduate School of Education and co-founder of Challenge Success, a national nonprofit that partners with K–12 schools and families to expand narrow definitions of success and implement policies and practices that allow all students to thrive. Dr. Pope's work is grounded in the understanding that student well-being, belonging and engagement are deeply interconnected—and essential to long-term success.

The evening will feature a fireside chat followed by audience Q&A and a book signing.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Beth Heller Gelles is a sought-after expert in the field of college admissions. As co-founder of Acceptance Ahead, she has visited more than 160 college campuses and guided hundreds of students and families over the past fourteen years. Known for her clarity, humor and warm presence, Beth helps families make thoughtful decisions and move through the admissions process with confidence and far less stress.

Beth is a graduate of Harvard College and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management and currently serves on the Board of Trustees of Harvard Hillel. She and her husband live in Westchester, New York, and are the proud parents of three children who made it through the college process with minimal tears—and have (mostly) forgiven their mother for turning nearly every family moment into a potential college essay.

To learn more about Beth Heller Gelles click here.

Author, Beth Heller Gelles

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

Denise Pope, Ph.D., is a senior lecturer at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education, where she specializes in student engagement, curriculum studies, qualitative research methods and service learning. She is co-founder and current strategic advisor at Challenge Success, a school reform nonprofit that partners with schools and families to elevate student voice and implement research-based strategies that improve student well-being, belonging and engagement with learning.

Dr. Pope is the author of Doing School: How We Are Creating a Generation of Stressed-Out, Materialistic and Miseducated Students and co-author of Overloaded and Underprepared: Strategies for Stronger Schools and Healthy, Successful Kids. She is a leading voice in K–12 education and parenting, empowering schools and families to make student-centered changes backed by research so that young people can lead healthy, purposeful, more balanced lives. She also co-hosts the Stanford Graduate School of Education radio show called "School's In."

Release date: May 5, 2026